At this time last year I knew very little about mobile phones, luckily this has now changed. I could see the salesman smiling with glee when I wandered (in a slightly bewildered fashion) into the phone shop and announced that I wanted a pretty phone that wouldn’t break when I drop it. It turned out this salesman did me a favour because he suggested the Sony Ericsson W850i.
Besides from being pretty and fairly indestructible, this phone has really impressed me. Of course it has all the standard features like Bluetooth, 3G, FM radio and a camera which I personally expect from a modern phone, but with the 1GB memory card included I have 500+ photos saved and a few albums worth of music, with plenty of memory space to spare. I'm the kind of girl who likes to have my phone, camera and MP3 in the same device. My handbag has more than enough rubbish in it to be messing around with separate items, and this phone fills all my requirements of modern life with ease.
My favourite thing about the W850i is the MP3 player, which after all is the main selling point of this handset, accessed using the flashy bright orange navigation key. The whole display lights up orange when the walkman is activated. The whole feel of the phone is quite snazzy, there are several preinstalled themes where you can change the graphics used in the menu. The phone has a 2 inch TFT display which is great for viewing pictures, but recently I have started using the phone for its web browsing capabilities, and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. I can easily check the news or my emails on the large clear screen. I was slightly concerned about having a slider style phone but the slider is secure with, in my opinion, just the right amount of “give”.
On the downside, I’m a little disappointed with the camera. Its 2MP copes well in good conditions, but as soon as the lighting is too bright or dark, it struggles a little bit and a lot of photos come out blurry. If you were keen on having digital camera quality images I would suggest looking elsewhere. The only other gripe I have with it is the “toolbar” button on the main screen. This button gives you access to shortcuts, but by the time you’ve pressed 3 buttons to select what you want, you may as well have gone through the main menu. It seems a bit redundant to me.
If you can live with slightly awkward navigation, you will have a phone with a cracking MP3 player which I think at the end of my 18 month contract will still be able to compete with the new models coming out. A year after my experience in the phone shop, my handset has suffered from very little wear and tear and has never broken or stopped working. I have been delighted with my first venture into the world of Sony Ericsson; I can honestly say I think I've found a phone manufacturer I will stick with.
